Huron Central will shut down if funds not in place by end of March

Huron Central Railway in
Canada is once again facing a deadline for an essential capital investment for
track improvements needed to keep the line operating beyond August of this year,
Sault This Week reports. Mario Brault, president of Huron Central, said from
his Montreal headquarters that if the federal and Ontario governments do not
announce funding assistance by the end of March at the very latest, the
regional short line rail company operating between the Sault and Sudbury would
be forced to shut down this August.

"If we haven't heard
anything by then (March), I don't think we can really contemplate operating
beyond our one-year interim arrangement," he said. "The position of
Huron Central after August will be the same as it was in June 2009."

Brault said that while
the plans were ready to begin work on railbed upgrades, there would be
considerable lead time needed to order materials and hire contractors to
complete the project within government deadlines for funding. The total cost
for the railbed upgrades remains at C$33 million, but Brault said his company has
committed to contribute 10 per cent of that total, or C$3.3 million.

And Sault Ste. Marie
Mayor John Rowswell, said that with the previous commitment of C$3 million last
summer split equally by the federal and Ontario governments, the actual figure
now being asked of both senior governments is C$27 million. Rowswell said that
the C$27 million would be used for capital investments to the infrastructure.

Any future contributions
from the private sector including major customers like Essar Algoma Steel and
Espanola based Domtar, or CP Railway, which owns the rail track, would be
operational expenses to ensure Huron Central's long-term viability.

Brault said that his
company had provided its shareholders with an update on Feb. 16. In attendance
at that meeting was Sault MPP David Orazietti. Brault said that a
federal counterpart had not been present, but that the recent announcement by
the federal government that it was ready to negotiate financial support with
the Province was encouraging.

Asked if he was worried
that the federal and Ontario governments were caught up in a game of political
ping pong, Brault said, "That may be, but of course, we at Huron Central
do not want to be the ball. I think that at a higher level of the government
there is a positive spin, but we need to see not only a commitment but an
agreement between the two levels of government so we can carry on with the next
steps of this project."

Sault MPP David
Orazietti, however, said that the recent application to the Community Component
of the Build Canada Fund, after a C$12 million application had been rejected
through the Federal Infrastructure Stimulus Fund, was still a viable funding
opportunity. Orazietti stressed too that an unfinished Provincial Territorial
Base Fund Agreement referred to by the Federal Transport, Infrastructure and
Communities Minister John Baird, in a recent letter regarding joint government
funding for Huron Central capital upgrades, would not delay or hinder financial
assistance needed now. He said that the Ontario government was in agreement in
principle with that joint program but it was still under review by the Province.

Joe Fratesi, chief
administrative officer for the City of Sault Ste. Marie and chair of the
committee to secure Huron Central's survival, agreed that there may have been
some political posturing at play between the Province and the federal
government over a funding agreement to help the ailing rail company.

Fratesi added that when
the anticipated funding from the senior governments is announced, CP Rail, with
whom Huron Central has a contract, would have a role to play as well.

"Once we know that
the governments are committed to the capital [investment] there is a role we
will be asking CP to play to make this whole thing work," he said.
"The announcement by the senior levels of government is not the final
stake in the railbed. It's the second last stake. There is a role and there
will be something asked of CP. I am not at liberty to say what that will be,
but they will have a role to play in making sure that this solution is sound."

But for Brault and Huron
Central, the immediate concern is improving the track to allow them to sustain
a speed between 25 mph and 30 mph to guarantee they can be profitable for the
long haul. Brault said that while their business could be better, it had
improved over 2009.

He said that the company
had actually increased its workforce to about 45 employees since they received
the interim funding last summer.